Re: help w/traditional non-ashkenazi jewish music

[Yatzliakh Abrahami <Yatz...>]

In article <4bfbnm$e59 (at) elaine27(dot)Stanford(dot)EDU>
           raindrop (at) leland(dot)Stanford(dot)EDU "Nathaniel Michael 
Pearson" writes:

> being fairly well-stocked with ashkenazi music, i'm seeking authentic and 
> well-
> recorded music from other jewish traditions.  much sefardi music i've heard
> (lauren pomerantz etc.) is sung in almost operatic styles replete with vibrato
> etc.  while i recognize that this is part of western european (and maybe 
> liturgical) tradition, i suspect that it more reflects the classical training 
> of modern western vocalists who do the reconstructions; i doubt that sefardi 
> 'folk' performers sing so ornately.  i'd much prefer plainer versions of 
> sefardi songs (or instrumentals).  can anyone recommend anything?
> 
> and what about other traditional jewish music, i.e. from persia, israel, 
> central asia, egypt, ethiopia, yemen, india (a recent book on cochin mentions 
> intriguing syncretic musical forms there) etc?  i'd love to hear polished 
> recordings with which to compare other musics from those regions.
> 
> with sincere thanks for any help,
> 
> nathaniel pearson

Ah, A man after my own heart.  A couple of suggestions from my own collection
that you may be interested in:

The Yemenite Jews; Anthology of Traditional Musics/Jewish-Yemenite Diwan.
released by AUVIDIS-UNESCO, Catalog No. D 8024, Made in France, with English 
and French sleeve notes.  Exellent quality, just voice and tin trays in
the true Teimani tradition, (the Jews of Yemen where forbidden to play musical
instruments by their persicutors, beating a rhythm on tin trays and tins cans 
was the only solution).

Hakki Obadia: Iraqi Jewish and Iraqi Music.
released by Global Village Music, 245 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001
(212) 695-6024. The recording quality is fine, but it might take the western
ear a while to adjust to the nuances of Iraqi fiddle playing (and tuning:). 
Catalog No. CD 147

I myself have only been able to find one track of Beta Esrael (Falasha)
liturgical music and that is on a general collection of Ethiopian music 
simply called; Music from Ethiopia. 
released by Topic Records Ltd, 50 Stroud Green Road, London N4 3EF.  
Catalog No. TSCD910

I hope these suggestion help.  It would be nice to see more discussions
on the wider world of Jewish Music on this newsgroup.

Shavuah Tov.
-- 
Yatzliakh Abrahami
yatz (at) intxtdoc(dot)demon(dot)co(dot)uk